This Feeling
by AmberStarry
Summary: It has been five years since the last trace of the murders in Himanizawa and Rika has finally been able to start living a normal life. Nothing much has changed since then, except for this strange feeling she gets every time she's around Keiichi...


**This Feeling...**

**Hinamizawa  
****1988**

**Five years after the last trace of the curse of Oyashiro.**

Rika walked down the dirt track that led to her shared home. Now sixteen, she was beginning to grow into the mature woman that she had once so desperately yearned to be. Her hair was pulled back in a long, flowing ponytail of indigo, her fringe left loose falling just above her amethyst eyes. She wore a white dress which clung around her small breasts and bodice and flared out at the waist, the skirt ruffling out behind her in the breeze. In her hand she held a plastic bag containing a bottle of soy sauce, bag of rice, packet of seaweed sheets and a fresh cut of pork from the local butchers. A sweet smile adorned her still baby-like face as she made her way. The sun shone over the town brightly. It was again a hot summer but Rika didn't mind - after all it was only the fifth one she had been able to spend in peace, knowing that she would see the autumn that followed.

Not much had changed over the five years since Rika and the gang had worked together to break the seemingly inexorable fate that had once befallen Hinamizawa. The biggest difference really was in Rika's school life; she and Satoko were now the only two club members remaining in school. Mion, Shion, Rena, Keiichi and Satoshi had all long since graduated from the towns small communal education centre: Rena now worked as the second nurse in the Hinamizawa medical clinic, along with Miss Takano and Doctor Irie; Mion and Shion worked cooperatively in the newly formed Hinamizawa police force: Mion as an officer, Shion as a private detective; Satoshi had taken to coaching the local baseball team, the Hinamizawa Fighters, full time; and Keiichi was in training to be a counsellor for the youth of the town. Meanwhile, Rika and Satoko continued their education. It was a bit saddening that the group didn't get to see each other on a daily basis any more, but they had all gotten used to it. Thankfully the town was small enough that their time apart never exceeded a few days, they always bumped into each other.

Speaking of which, Rika spotted Keiichi's head of chocolate locks around the corner bobbing towards her presently. The smile on her face spread into a grin as Keiichi appeared, clad in a white t-shirt and cargo shorts. When he caught sight of Rika, his face broke into his trademark goofy grin and he picked up his pace. "Rika-chan! I've missed your adorable face," he exclaimed, holding his arms out as he approached the smaller girl and wrapping them around her in a friendly hug.

"Hello Keiichi," Rika replied with a giggle. She was taller now, but she was still a good head shorter than Keiichi. Her face was able to rest comfortably on his chest as he cuddled her.

After a few seconds Keiichi released her and stood back, which was when he spotted the bag in Rika's right hand. "Oh, have you just come back from shopping? Is that dinner for tonight?"

Rika nodded her face lighting up like it always did around him. "Yeah, Satoko wanted to make gyoza* tonight so I went down to the market to buy some pork and a few other things, nipah!"

"Mmm," Keiichi hummed, rubbing his stomach. "I could definitely go for some of Satoko's cooking, it's so good – she should be a chef!"

Something in Rika's heart dropped. She had been feeling strange around Keiichi lately, not like she did around her other friends. When she was near him she would feel giddy and nervous, butterflies would start going crazy in her stomach, when she hugged him she felt happy and when he complimented her she had to fight off the blush that rose to her cheeks. The thing that concerned her the most though was that whenever he paid attention or compliments to anyone else, like he just had Satoko, she got this feeling of inexplicable jealousy. Still, she kept her smile in place. Keiichi didn't need to know this. "Would you like to come over for dinner tonight?" of course there was no harm in keeping him around a little longer either.

Keiichi pumped one of his fists in the air. "For sure!" He almost shouted his acceptance of Rika's offer. For a twenty-one-year-old he could still be pretty immature, but that was one of the things that made Keiichi, Keiichi – his ability to turn any situation into a happy, playful, good-natured one, even if he was sometimes a bit silly.

"Come on then, Satoko is waiting," Rika prompted, waving Keiichi to follow her as she began to walk.

"Okay, okay, I'm coming." Keiichi turned and fell in step with Rika as they began to walk down the road once more. He found himself turning to look at Rika. Her form bathed in the afternoon sun was gorgeous. She sure had changed from when he first arrived in Hinamizawa. She was no longer the tiny little priestess who was cute beyond belief; she was now a young lady: who was still cute beyond belief. "Is that dress new? I haven't seen it before," Keiichi commented as he took in the spaghetti strapped sundress Rika wore.

"I've grown," Rika answered simply, "I've had to buy a whole lot of new clothes. It's weird not being able to wear my old school uniform or green nighty anymore."

"Well you look very pretty today," Keiichi smiled, throwing an arm around Rika's shoulders.

"Really?" Rika asked sincerely, looking up at the brunet.

"Yeah." Keiichi nodded. "Your boobs still have some growing to do though."

"Keiichi!" Rika whined playfully. Oh yes, Keiichi was still a pervert. Being around Oishi, Irie and Tomitake these past few years though really didn't help, and when Akasaka dropped into town – Oyashiro help the poor girls of Hinamizawa.

"Rika! Keiichi-kun!" A high-pitched, slightly over-enthusiastic voice sang as the two approached the Furude-Houjo house.

Keiichi lifted his arm off Rika's shoulder and waved happily the heliotrope-haired girl running down the stairs to greet them. "Hey Hanyu!"

Hanyu had opted not to stay in school; instead she spent her time being housekeeper for Satoko and Rika. She also volunteered around the village, but liked to keep her distance from others as much as she could. It wasn't that Hanyu was antisocial; she just knew that her existence was fragile. She could disappear at any time and too many strong attachments would leave others mourning her disappearance, this was something Hanyu could never live with. She had fought alongside Rika so long for happiness; she would not leave just for sadness to be brought back in her place.

"Keiichi's staying for dinner," Rika informed Hanyu as they arrived next to her and began to ascend the steps to the house.

"Oh?" Hanyu broke into one of her unprovoked blushes. "Rika, did you buy me any cream-puffs?"

Rika's eyes narrowed and her voice dropped an octave. "If you want cream-puffs you can go and buy them yourself."

"Uwahuauah!" Hanyu cried. ""You're so mean!"

Rika didn't reply, instead her eyes slid to the side to meet Hanyu's, who quickly shushed when her own eyes met them. Hanyu was now 'eighteen', but she still acted like a four-year-old.

"Let her off the hook." Keiichi nudged Rika in the arm.

Rika's cheeks darkened and she quickly looked down, but not quick enough to prevent Hanyu and Keiichi from noticing. Neither of them had seen Rika react like that to such a playful action, it intrigued them but both said nothing.

Without looking up, Rika reached out a hand and opened the door, quickly standing to the side as she did so.

"What are yo-" Keiichi started to ask, only to be cut off by a pie slamming into his face. "Satoko…" He muttered darkly as pieces of cream pie slid off his cheeks to the ground below.

"Hehehe." Satoko hopped out from her hiding place against the wall just inside the front door. "You still haven't learned, Keiichi!"

"How did you even know I was here?" Keiichi backhanded as he began to wipe the food off his face.

Satoko smirked and crossed her arms over her chest haughtily. "Lucky guess."

"Maybe you shouldn't set any more traps for Keiichi-kun, he's here for dinner," Hanyu relayed to Satoko shyly.

"I'm going to go put these inside," Rika said, indicating the bag of shopping and walking in past Satoko.

The two other girls and boy stared after the priestess as she disappeared into the house. Hanyu whimpered and blushed, putting her head down in embarrassment for an unclear reason to the other two. Satoko scowled at Keiichi accusingly, like he had been the reason for Rika's sudden strange behaviour and Keiichi stared blankly at the open doorway that Rika had gone through moments before, completely baffled about the whole thing.

Satoko was the one to break the tense silence. "What did you do to Rika?" She demanded, stomping forward a few paces towards Keiichi.

Keiichi blinked and shook his head, bringing himself back to reality. "Me?" He asked incredulously. "I didn't do anything! I just walked home with her and talked, I swear!"

Satoko narrowed her eyes at him. "Hmph." Was the only sound she uttered in response to Keiichi's defence before she too turned around and walked inside.

Meanwhile, Rika took in deep breathes as she entered the kitchen, holding a hand up to her chest. This strange feeling was getting stronger and stronger as time passed, and when Keiichi was next to her it was almost unbearable. Now she was blushing for no reason too. For someone who had existed for hundreds of years Rika was sure she had come across everything there was to come across, but this feeling was definitely new. She tried not to think about it; instead she put the groceries on the kitchen bench and turned to the cupboard. Opening it up, she produced a slim, green glass bottle. A quick cup of wine should be enough to calm her nerves, or so she thought.

"Rika, are you okay?" Satoko's voice echoed into the kitchen, where Rika froze and then quickly yanked the cupboard back open, stashing the wine bottle in the back so that Satoko wouldn't see it.

The blonde peeked her head in to see Rika standing awkwardly in front of the pantry cupboard, a decidedly forced smile on her face. "I'm fine Satoko – nipah!" Rika answered brightly. Walking towards Satoko she gave her another smile before walking out into the sitting room where Keiichi and Hanyu had entered and were now chatting.

"So how has your psychology course been going, Keiichi?"

"Great! It's been pretty interesting actually, we're learning about the fight-flight response at the moment, HPA axis and all of that. It's related to the release of this hormone called adrenocorticotropic which when released into the blood by the pituitary gland stimulates the adrenal glands into making adrenaline, noradrenaline and cortisol – which is one of the things that prepares us to fight or flee from a threat." Keiichi grinned and put his arms behind his head, beaming proudly at his own knowledge.

"Uwah," Hanyu exclaimed, "That sounds so complicated! How do you remember it all?"

"That? That's one of the easy things! Psychology is way more in depth than that, it can get boring but when you're interested in something it doesn't matter. You should do what you love Hanyu!"

"I agree - nanodesu!" Hanyuu smiled.

Keiichi turned and saw Rika walking back into the room. "I'm glad you've found something you're interested in Keiichi. Somehow, psychology suits you."

"Really?" Keiichi chuckled. "I hadn't noticed."

"It does," Rika affirmed. "Satoko's started making dinner."

"I'll go and help her," Hanyu said, standing up and walking into the kitchen, leaving Rika and Keiichi alone.

"You can stop acting now." Keiichi shot Rika a smile.

"What?" Rika asked, sincerely confused.

"You don't have to put on that cute cheery voice anymore, I know there's much more to you than meets the eye – I've seen it. You don't have to hide in front of me or any of your friends really. We understand, we should after what we've been through."

Rika smirked. When she spoke again her voice was an octave lower. "Thank you Keiichi."

Keiichi sat up. "So how's life? How've you been doing at school? Is Chie sensei still doing as good a job as she did when the rest of us were around?"

Rika put a finger to her chin. "Peaceful, life's peaceful. School is the same as it ever was, and Chie sensei is still as good as ever."

"That's good." The brunet suddenly grabbed Rika's hand and started studying it.

"What are you doing?" Rika asked, feeling a blush rise to her cheeks again.

"Sorry," Keiichi mumbled, releasing Rika's hand. "Thought I saw a bug on it."

"Oh." Rika looked out the window. The sun was now dipping below the horizon, casting an orange hue over Hinamizawa. She could see the mountainside in the distance. It was very picturesque. Half of the town was visible, spread up over the valley and sides of the mountain range's base. The visual of the landscape was dominated by greenery and the scattering of cottages and the occasional shrine. It looked almost surreal, almost like a painting rather than a real panorama of the town. There had been a time when the beauty of Hinamizawa was overshadowed with gruesome secrets and fatal lies. It seemed such a shame that its true magnificence had to be hidden for so long.

"How long?"

Rika snapped her head back to Keiichi, who was watching her interestedly. "What?"

"How long were you stuck repeating the year of Showa 58? How many times did you restart only to fall into the same fate each time?" Keiichi's eyes were hard. Unlike when he was younger, he now knew when to be serious, even though he was still playful. He saw nothing funny about Rika's misfortune.

Rika smiled half-heartedly. "Good question. I couldn't tell you exactly how long I traversed through realities, but I do know it had to be more than a hundred years. That's why I was so desperate, I had been trapped for so long, freedom was starting to loose its meaning."

Keiichi ran a hand through his chocolate bangs. "Eh, freedom is overrated anyway." He winked at Rika.

Rika chuckled. "I suppose."

"Of course, everybody needs it at some point. I'm glad you found yours."

Rika's eyes flicked up to meet Keiichi's. There was so much that begged to be said and yet even more that necessitated silence. How could one person know so much about her, and yet know almost nothing at all. Only Hanyu could understand the full extent of her past, but Keiichi was second closest to her secrets. The biggest irony of this: that was probably the one thing he didn't even know.

"Dinner's ready guys, come eat." Satoko's voice floated into the room.

Keiichi's expression turned ecstatic as he hopped up to head into the kitchen. "Oh yeah, Satoko's cooking, here I come!"

Rika followed him with her eyes. Just what exactly were these feelings?

Just who exactly was this man?

* * *

"Are you sure you don't need any help cleaning up?"

Satoko huffed and continued pushing Keiichi out of the room. "Just get out of my kitchen! You need to go home and rest, you have work tomorrow!"

Rika put the stack of bowls she was carrying into the sink and walked over to the squabbling duo. "I'll walk him out, Satoko. I'll come back and do the rest of the dishes too."

The blonde let her arms fall limp. "Are you sure? I could just as easily throw him out."

Rika nodded and smiled. "Nipah!"

Satoko turned to Hanyuu. "Come on, let's go see if there's anything on TV." The two girls walked out once again leaving Keiichi and Rika alone.

"Thanks for saving me from Satoko's wrath, Rika." Keiichi smiled as they began to walk through the little house to the door.

"No problem."

The rest of the walk was quiet. Long silences between the two of them seemed to be common nowadays. Then really nothing needed to be said, they already had an understanding – or so Rika thought.

As they came to the door, Keiichi turned around. "Thanks for inviting me over for dinner Rika, it was awesome!"

"Anytime Keiichi, you're always welcome." Rika baby-face lit up in one last smile.

Just when Rika thought Keiichi would turn around and start his journey home, he bent down, cupped her face and planted a soft kiss on her lips. Rika's eyes widened and her cheeks reddened. When Keiichi broke the kiss, which only lasted for a second, he pulled back only so far that his lips were near her ears. "You look pretty every time I see you." Then suddenly he was walking away, leaving Rika to stare after him and the tickle of his lips on hers and his warm breathe on her ear.

What was this feeling?

Somewhere in the recesses of Rika's mind, Hanyuu's happy voice echoed the answer: _It's Love_.

**Fin **

* * *

***Gyoza**- Japanese dumplings, if you took notice of what ingredients Rika had bought you'd know in this case they're going to have a pork filling.

Yay My first Higurashi fic ^_^ My favourite pairing in Higurashi at the moment is RikaxKeiichi, because they're my favourite characters from it. They're just so cute!

For this fic to work, you have to imagine that at the time of the manga/anime, Rika is 11 and Keiichi is 16.

Anyway, hope you enjoyed :D

**Amber*****


End file.
